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Top Ten Ebook and Digital Book Publishing Stories of 2013

Before we officially move on to 2014, let’s take stock in the year that was. From the new rules on ebook pricing for the largest publishers to the continue rise of indie authors to new technology and innovative publishing projects, 2013 was quite a year in the industry.

If you’re a consistent Digital Book World reader, you know the drill from last year: We take a look at the ten most popular stores on Digital Book World from the past year, going from ten to one.

For the first time ever, self-published ebooks were Nos. 1 and 2 on the DBW Ebook Best-Seller List. While these two books alone didn’t cause the average price of a best-selling ebook to drop to all-time lows, their prominence on a list with front-list titles from big publishers at such low prices ($0.99 a piece) sent a message.

How readers discover new books in a world of dwindling bookshelf space and an ever-more-dominant Amazon is a pressing concern for publishers, authors and agents alike. Most readers don’t have to worry so much about what they’ll read next — except power readers, who read so many books every year that they sometimes have trouble finding new good ones.

The book publishing world watched in awe as best-selling self-published authors signed huge deals with big publishers after their indie efforts proved successful among readers. This Digital Book World scoop and interview with the author gave an inside look at how the trend was developing.

Data is becoming ever more important in book publishing — and not just data what books are selling, what consumers want and how marketing works, but also data on themes, characters and trends in storytelling. It might seem like a Sisyphean task, but stories can actually be turned into numbers.

Related: Discover troves of new publishing data at Digital Book World 2014: full schedule.

In short, not much — that is, most self-published authors don’t make much money doing it. There are some who do very well financially, however, and, besides, making money is not even close to the most popular reason that authors publish books.

Related: Get the latest results from the latest Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest survey of over 9,000 authors at Digital Book World 2014.

As schools make the transition from print books to ebooks in the classroom, they are starting to realize that there are some key differences between the two formats when it comes to both consumption and purchasing.

Barnes & Noble stunned the publishing industry when it seemed for a brief moment like it would discontinue its hardware business. That turned into just stopping its tablet program. The company later backtracked further and is continuing to produce new tablets.

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